Team Effort
by AliasCWN
Summary: Tully is hurt and Hitch blames himself.


**Team Effort**

By: Alias CWN

Lt. Angela Devlin paused outside the hospital tent before entering. She recognized the low voice she heard coming from the other side. Even before she opened the flap she knew she would see the young blond private sitting beside her patient pleading with him to open his eyes. He spent all his free time sitting at his friend's side unless someone kicked him out. Today it was her turn. Pasting a smile on her face, she approached the bed.

"Good morning Private."

"Morning Ma'am."

"Have you been here all night?"

"No Ma'am, I mean Lieutenant. We just got back from patrol about an hour ago."

The young soldier looked exhausted. Angela searched his face for any sign that he was being untruthful. She knew he had spent at least one night at his buddy's bedside. Seeing none, she sighed and picked up her patient's chart . She quickly scanned it before turning back to the bedside.

"Well Private. Your friend is holding his own. I see he still hasn't regained consciousness. Sometimes it takes a while. He lost a lot of blood before you got him here. We'll just have to wait for him to decide to rejoin us." She tried to sound upbeat without actually offering any false hope. The young private was still listed as critical. She didn't want to make promises she couldn't keep.

"Is he gonna make it?" The question was so low that Angela almost missed it. The blue eyes looking up at her were so full of pain. She was a nurse. They taught you how ease the pain of the wounded. They didn't teach you how to ease the pain she saw in those eyes.

"I don't know Private." She reached over and gently placed her hand over the one of his that gripped his friend's hand. "We're doing our best to help him. I guess the rest is up to him."

The young blond looked down at their combined hands. He took a shaky breath and squeezed his buddy's limp fingers.

"Tully's tough. You don't know him….but….he's a great guy. Always there when you need him. He's kinda quiet. But you can count on him….he won't let you down."

When he lifted his head Angela could see the tears glistening in his eyes.

"I let him down. I didn't see that halftrack. I was supposed to be watching his back. It's my fault." The private wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt. "It should've been me in here."

She quickly circled to the other side of the bed and knelt next to his shaking body. Gripping him by the shoulders, she gave him a good shake.

"No. Don't say that. I'm sure your friend wouldn't agree." She tried to get him to meet her eyes but he just slumped back into his seat. "You have to be strong for him. He's going to need someone to help him recover. Someone to keep his spirits up." He wasn't responding and she didn't know how to reach him. …."What's your name?"

He looked up in surprise. The tears were rolling down his face freely now. The torment in his eyes tore at her heart.

"Hitchcock Ma'am. Private Mark Hitchcock."

"Well, Private Mark Hitchcock, your friend is lucky to have you to care for him. You just keep talking to him and encouraging him. If he's as tough as you say, he'll come around."

Angela saw the hope flare for a moment is his eyes before he dropped his head again.

"Maybe I'd better go get Sarge. He's the one Tully will want to see. They're really close. Tully's his driver."

She watched him back away from the bed and practically run from the tent.

Angela checked the chart on her patient's progress before she began to change his bandages. It had been almost two days since his friend had run from the tent. She hadn't seen him since. She was beginning to think she may have said something to drive him away. The young soldier was still on her mind when she turned to leave and almost ran into a tall, dark haired man who was quietly watching her.

"Excuse me. I didn't mean to startle you." He said in a clipped British accent. He smiled at her in a charming manner before his gaze dropped to her patient. "How is he?"

Angela looked down at the pale face of the unconscious private and frowned.

"Do you know him?"

"Actually, yes. He's my driver. And my friend." The Englishman answered. "We have been out on patrol and I haven't had a chance to drop by before this. We've all been quite worried about him. Hitch said he was still unconscious when he left,"

"Hitch."

"Yes. Private Mark Hitchcock. Our other driver. He was keeping an eye on Tully until Troy and I could get free. That would be Sargeant Sam Troy, the leader of our little group."

"Oh…..Well, Private Pettigrew is still not awake. His color is better but it's still a matter of waiting, I'm afraid."

The British soldier nodded as if he had expected her answer.

"He lost a lot of blood. We weren't sure we were going to get him here in time. Hitch drove like a madman to get us here. We even gave him a blood transfusion along the way."

"A transfusion. Where did you get a donor?"

"Hitch. They have the same blood type." He explained.

Angela stared at him in surprise.

"And he still blames himself for his friend's condition?"

Now it was the sargeant's turn to stare. His face registered confusion briefly before understanding dawned.

"That explains a lot." He said almost to himself.

Angela reached out to touch the sargeant's arm to keep him from walking out.

"He hasn't been back since he told me that. He left in a hurry. Something about finding his sergeant. He seemed to think that his friend would rather have the sergeant here than see him. That young man is in a great deal of pain over this,"

The sergeant nodded his head as if it suddenly all made sense. He moved further into the tent and reached down to grip the shoulder of the unconscious private.

"You can stay and talk to him if you want Sargeant. I'm done here for now. Perhaps you could encourage his friend to come back."

"Perhaps, Lieutenant. I'll do what I can. But I think Troy may have better luck with Hitch. He knows how to talk to him. Hitch is an excellent soldier but he can get a bit emotional when one of us gets hurt. He's rather young. Troy always seems to know how to reach him at times like these."

Angela was nodding her understanding when he looked up at her.

"Don't get me wrong…Hitch won't let this get in the way of his job. He just keeps going….. Did he tell you that he was the one who took out the halftrack that got Tully?"

When she shook her head he continued.

"Did he tell you that he was the first one to reach Tully after he was shot?...And I bet he didn't tell you about the blood transfusion. Or how he stayed by Tully's side all the way back, refusing to sleep until Tully was in the hands of the doctors?"

She kept shaking her head. It didn't make sense..How could he still blame himself after all he'd done to save his friend?

The sergeant sat in the chair next to the bed and rested his hand on the patient's arm. He looked up at Angela before continuing.

"I'll talk to Troy. Hitch has been too quiet the last few days…..Thank you for telling me."

Angela nodded, and realizing she was being dismissed, she left the tent. As she parted the flap and stepped outside she could hear the sergeant talking to the unconscious private in a low, encouraging voice, telling him to open his eyes.

The mess tent was crowded when Angela entered that evening. She filled her tray then looked around for a seat. The few she saw would have squeezed her between soldiers she didn't know. Not in the mood to resist their harmless flirtations, she was about to take her tray back to her own tent when she spotted Private Hitchcock sitting at a table near the back of the mess tent. There was an empty seat next to him and she decided to join him.

"May I sit here?"

Mark Hitchcock jumped and looked up in surprise. She hadn't realized he was so lost in his own thoughts. Feeling guilty, she smiled an apology.

"Sure Lieutenant. I'm not expecting any company."

"I didn't mean to disturb you." She studied him from beneath the bangs that hung down in her face. She didn't want to scare him off again.

"No problem Lieutenant. I was almost done." He started to gather his tray and his utensils.

"Please stay."

He looked at her for a moment before he dropped the utensils back on the table. "I'm not very good company Lieutenant. I'm kinda tired. We were out on patrol again and I haven't slept much."

"Yes, I know. Your Sargeant Moffitt told me. He came by to visit Private Pettigrew. " She waited to see how he would react to the news that she had been talking to his sergeant.

"He said Tully's still not awake. I ran into Sargeant Troy after he talked to Moffitt." The young blond was not looking at her. Instead he was tapping his utensils on the table.

"He told me what you did to save your friend."

"Did I?"

"Did you what?" she asked, puzzled.

"Did I save him?" He met her eyes briefly before he looked back down at the table.

She watched him push his food around on his plate. From what she could tell, he hadn't eaten much.

"You did what you could. We can only do so much Private. The rest is out of our hands….Do you know the hardest part of my job?"

He gave her a half- hearted smile and glanced around the room. He could see the looks of envy he was getting because he was sitting with a pretty nurse.

"Let me guess…. Beating off all the guys who want a chance to talk to a pretty girl."

His answer surprised her until she realized that he was trying to change the subject.

"No, Private." She answered seriously. "It's not being able to save them all. We're trained to help. Help with the pain, help them recover, help them cope with their new reality. But there are some things we cannot change. I wish we could, but we can't. I hate losing someone Private. I really hate it. So I do everything in my power to avoid that result….I don't want to lose your friend."

His head snapped up at this statement. The fear in his eyes nearly stopped her from continuing.

"I don't want to lose him. I'll do everything I can to bring him back…but I can't do it alone…I think I need your help."

He was already shaking his head. "No. He doesn't need me. He needs Doc…Sargeant Moffitt. Doc and Tully are really close." He was getting ready to run again, gathering his tray.

"The sargeant can help too Private. I think this is going to take a team effort. He needs you Private. He needs your support…your encouragement. Talk to him..touch him. Be there for him."

Mark Hitchcock stared at her with so much pain in his eyes that she wanted to hug him, to try to comfort him. A lieutenant did not hug a private in public but she wanted to do just that. She watched as he backed away from her and dropped his tray off in the bin. He didn't look back as he rushed out of the tent. Sighing, she turned back to her own meal and began to eat despite her sudden loss of appetite.

The next morning Angela entered the critical care tent and stopped in amazement. Sitting next to her patient was a blond haired soldier. He had his back to her but there was no question as to his identity . She stood quietly and watched him lean over and talk to her patient in a low voice. One hand gripped his friend's tightly as he gently tucked the blankets in closer with the other.

"Come on Tully. You have to wake up. Moffitt doesn't like his new driver. And Troy hates the way I cook. That new guy makes rations taste even worse than me. And Moffitt wants someone to play chess with him. I can't play chess. You gotta help me out here Tully."

Angela smiled at the monologue. She did tell him to talk to his friend. She moved over to the foot of the bed and examined the chart, She heard the monologue stop and when she looked up she met Private Hitchcock's gaze.

"What brought you back Private? Was it something I said?"

"No." He shook his head. "Well maybe. But not what you said to me."

Confused, she waited for him to explain.

"You talked to Sargeant Moffitt. He talked to Sargeant Troy."

"And Sargeant Troy talked to you." She continued for him.

"Not really." He replied. "Sarge didn't talk….he yelled..Loud. He was really mad. Whatever you told Moffitt set Troy off. He chewed me out for twenty minutes before he ran out of steam. Then he ordered me to sit with Tully."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"I'm not in trouble. And Troy was right. I just….I couldn't see it. I just kept thinking there was something else I could have done."

"You did plenty Private."

"Tully is always there for me. He's always helping me make it back when I get hurt. He takes care of me. I felt like I let him down."

"No way."

Angela jumped at the new voice. It was weak but clear.

"You saved my life Hitch…I….know…you..did."

Mark Hitchcock was staring at his friend in disbelief.

"Tully!"

The joy in his voice made Angela want to cry. It looked like both privates were going to be okay. Slipping unnoticed from the tent, she went to find Sargeant Moffitt and Sergeant Troy. She needed to tell them that their friend was awake, and to thank them for their help in her team effort. 


End file.
